When I left Tampa last month, I hurried through the airport and rushed through the TSA checkpoint. Shoes off: check. Laptop out of bag: check. Sunglasses off: check.
So, once through the checkpoint, I picked up my fairly organized group of belongings and quickly re-assembled myself. But I wasn’t so late that I was panicking. I was calm enough to take the time to place my license back into my wallet before proceeding to my gate and even exchanged pleasantries with the TSA agent.
While I recall seeing an empty jewelry/wallet basket near my belongings, it just didn’t click…until it was too late. My absolute favorite sunglasses in the world (photo above) had been in that basket at one point – and now I didn’t have them!
I figured my Ray Ban aviators were gone for good, but still made the effort to try and retrieve them.
I got a hold of Tampa’s TSA office almost immediately as soon as I landed, and you know what? Operator 15 confirmed for me that the TSA staff had, in fact, found a pair of Ray Bans at the checkpoint that I’d said I’d gone through. They couldn’t send the glasses to me, however, because the TSA at this airport forwards lost items to the airport’s lost and found department. She gave me a case number.
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My initial call with the airport’s lost and found didn’t result in immediate success because the sunglasses hadn’t been transferred yet from the TSA. So I stayed patient. I had a good feeling about them.
Just a few minutes ago I hung up with Tampa airport’s lost and found clerk. He did, in fact, have my sunglasses so I had the choice of either picking them up in Tampa – or having them mailed to me. So I gave him my credit card number and for the $7 priority shipping fee, the airport will put my Ray Bans in a cylinder to prevent breakage and send them to me. I have to say I’m impressed.
Readers: Have you ever lost something at the TSA or somewhere else in the airport, and gotten it back?
